“Captain, I’m curious about one thing. What gives you the right to make such demands?”
“You have fired on and destroyed ships of the Ta’Akar. This, sir, makes you an enemy of the Ta’Akar. As well, you have entered our domain without permission, with the obvious intent of aggression.”
“We entered your domain by accident, sir, and without any intent. In fact, we didn’t even know anyone’s domain was out here. And for the record, your ships fired on us. We merely defended ourselves.”
“Furthermore, Captain Scott, you have provided aid and support to the Karuzari, who are also sworn enemies of the Ta’Akar.”
Nathan made no immediate response to Captain de Winter’s last accusation, preferring to consider it before responding. His careful consideration before speaking surprised Jessica, as it was not a trait for which he was known.
“I’m afraid your facts are in error,” Nathan began. “The people you speak of came aboard our ship while we were helplessly adrift, after the mistaken engagement with one of your warships. They offered to help and we accepted. At the time, we did not know of their political agenda or of their conflict with your people. And, I might add, we had little choice in the matter, as more of your ships were on their way.”
“While that may be the case, Captain, at this point it is irrelevant. In the eyes of my government, you are guilty as charged. Your only option is to abandon your Karuzari friends and ally yourself with us. Then together we can swiftly end this annoying rebellion and restore order to the galaxy.” The captain was getting a bit irritated at Nathan’s unwillingness to cooperate, forcing him to take pause to regain his composure. “Captain, do you truly know who you have allied yourself with?”
“I’m sure you’re about to explain it to me,” Nathan quipped.
The captain of the Yamaro ignored his sarcasm. “The Karuzari are terrorists, Captain. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“They claim to be freedom fighters.”
“What they are is responsible for the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands over more than two decades.”
“That’s a pretty big claim, Captain. But it’s my understanding that the Ta’Akar are responsible for just as many deaths, if not more.”
“The Ta’Akar do what must be done in order to prevent the support of these terrorists. We do what must be done to end this unrest once and for all. We do what must be done to maintain order!”
Nathan was pretty sure that he struck a nerve. He decided to push a little harder. “You do what must be done in order to force your population to worship your leader as a god. And you have the arrogance to pretend that you are justified in your actions.”
Unfortunately, Nathan’s plan did not work. Captain de Winter had not taken the bait. Instead, he was again recomposing himself. “Captain. Do you really think that people of nobility and rank, such as myself, actually believe that our king is a god? Those of us who serve the crown do so in order to establish our own power and position. Not as a result of some religious idealism.”
“And this is how you justify the atrocities committed by your commanders?”
“Of course not,” the captain answered with a sigh. “But at times, a seemingly unforgivable atrocity must be committed in order to avoid committing an even greater one. It is unfortunate, but nevertheless true, that sometimes, the only way to fight terrible evil is to become just as evil.”
“Is that what you were doing when you tried to glass the planet that the Karuzari were hiding on?” Nathan stood, wanting to appear strong and resolute. He waited several seconds for a response that he was already sure would not come. “We shall not be accepting your offer, Captain.”
“You do realize what will happen if you do not?”
“Yes. We’ll simply jump away before you even get within firing range.”
“Then I suppose we’ll have to chase you all the way back to Earth, won’t we?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Captain. Even your comm-drones would take at least a decade to reach Earth. And your ships are nowhere near as fast.”
“Not yet, but soon. Of course, meanwhile, as punishment for welcoming you into their system, Corinair will have to be obliterated. A pity, really. It is a lovely planet after all.”
Try as he might, Nathan could not hide his shock at the man’s threat. “Those people don’t even know we are here,” Nathan argued. “You couldn’t possibly-”
“I can, and I will. Make no mistake-”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Bluffing?” the Captain asked with that same puzzled look as before. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that term.”
The view screen suddenly switched back to the news broadcast from Corinair being fed to him by the Sig-Int staff. Nathan immediately activated his comm-panel. “Comms! What happened to the connection to the Ta’Akar ship?”
“The signal transmission was discontinued by the Ta’Akar, sir.”
As Tug and Jalea made their way along the raised walkway from the monorail platform to the main terminal at the spaceport, they could see numerous pillars of angry, black smoke rising from the city in the distance. The fires were obviously the result of the riots and other general panic that was taking place on the streets and pathways of the city. Although she did not say as much to Tug, she knew that the panic had been set into motion by the words spoken to the priest of the Order yesterday afternoon. She did not feel guilty, despite the fact that many people may have already suffered or even died as a direct result of her actions. Things were going exactly as she had hoped.
“Jesus,” Marcus exclaimed as he wheeled the crates full of supplies on board the shuttle. “Do you think they bought enough food?”
“Stop complaining,” Josh told him. “At least we won’t be eating any more molo.”
Just as they were loading the last of the supplies, Tug and Jalea came running across the tarmac.
“We must…depart…immediately,” Tug ordered, out of breath.
“What’s going on?” Loki asked.
“Yeah, what are all those fires we saw coming in?” Josh asked.
“Religious zealots,” Tug explained between breaths. “Fools, rambling on about salvation and the end of the world.”
“Bunch of idiots,” Marcus exclaimed. “I mean, who cares where we’re from? We’re here now. That’s all that matters.”
“We must go!” Jalea urged. Josh and Loki went back into the shuttle, climbing over the mounds of supplies filling their cargo bay in order to get to the cockpit. Tug and Jalea climbed up the ramp and took their seats near the massive aft hatch that doubled as a cargo ramp.
“Hey!” Marcus called out toward the cockpit as he ascended the ramp. “Whattaya think they’d all say if they knew the ship we’re crewing on is actually from Earth?” At the top of the ramp he took his seat on the opposite side from Tug and Jalea and put on his headset. “Let’s get the hell off this rock!” he called to Josh as he hit the button and start retracting the boarding ramp to close up over the rear opening.
“Light up the mains,” Josh ordered as he dropped into his seat.
“I’m on it,” Loki answered. He reached up over his head and started flipping switches in preparation to start the engines, but nothing was happening. “What the hell?”
“What’s wrong?” Josh asked.
“The mains are cycling over. I can’t get the turbines to light up.”
“Did you prime them first?”
“Of course I primed them first!”
“Oh shit,” Josh exclaimed as he noticed the flashing red display on the center data display console. “We’re locked out.”
“What? Why would we be-”
“Attention all vessels,” the voice came over the surface traffic control frequency. “This facility is on full operational lock down, by order of the Ta’Akar warship Yamaro. All flight crews will shut down their systems, disembark, and stand beside their ships.”
